Looking at the U23 roster for the Olympic qualifying tournament, I can't help but be extremely excited about the future of US Soccer.

Im most excited by midfielder Mix Diskerud, defender Josh Gatt, and forwards Joe Gyau, Teal Bunbury, and Juan Agudelo. Though I am a bit puzzled that Gatt is listed as a defender, as he seems destined to be a right winger to me. Perhaps the coaches see him in the mold of Dani Alves or Kieren Gibbs: a right back who can be a serious offensive threat.

no. im refering to the fact that every soccer thread on this board gets systematically downvoted by trolls (or A troll), and that only a 14 year old would give a shit enough to downvote 30 posts about soccer.

I maintain my stance that Freddy must be at least 30 years old. I was hearing about a crazy talented import named Freddy Adu when I was 17, and I thought he fudged his birth certificate then. If he could finally live up to the hype he had then I will forgive his inexplicable and interminable youth.

And although I generally ignore threads about things other than M football or basketball, if the NBA and NHL are allowed threads on the board then there's no reason soccer shouldn't be, especially if it's about team USA rather than an isolated pro team.

"Michigan Defense" is dominating everything, in every aspect of life. That's a rough definition.

Well, I was going to say that Freddy has pretty much lived up to any reasonable amount of hype, what with 17 caps with 2 goals, some memorable international appearances, long club career albeit a troubled one for a few years.

But, yeah, the hype around him was not reasonable, so I suppose that he hasn't lived up to it. Still, a good career already with a lot of productive years left.

is doing a loan deal to Staebek for this season owing to lack of playing time; he's also a '93 so it's not as if anything has gone seriously wrong--he's just not a prodigy.

As to Gatt: he's played both winger and RB. In a system like Caleb Porter's, where so much possession is accumulated, a fullback often plays like a second winger anyway. So Gatt could be useful as an attacking right back, in the mold of a Dani Alves.

18 players only--which puts a high premium on guys like Zarek Valentin who can play any of four positions. 3 overage players, which I'd be shocked to see go unused. Players like Dempsey and Donovan have expressed interest, but with the weakness at central defense and LB, wouldn't be surprised to see mostly defenders get called up.

Looking forward to the 3/22 opener against Cuba @ 9PM ET (sched link). TV listed as Universal Sports Network, which I don't get - wonder if they'll stream for free like they did with WNT qualifying, and Telemundo, which I do get, but I don't understand a whole lot of Spanish. I do understand "pelota," "offsides," "corner," and "goooooooooooooooooooool"

The U-20 WNT had to come from behind to beat Canada 2-1. A bad crossfield pass was intercepted and led to Canda's goal. But the US put the pressure on, firing off 29 shots, 10 on goal, and earning 15 corners to Canada's 6 shots, 4 on goal, 2 corners.

It wasn't until the 79' that Maya Hayes scored the equalizer and team-leading 5th goal of the tournament. Chi Ubogagu took advantage of a bad defensive play in Canada's box and slid to poke home the GWG in the 89'.

Maybe I'm not patriotic enough but I find myself constantly annoyed by Team USA's play. The teams always get a lot of hype but always underwhelm me. All you hear about in the US is what Donovan Landon is up to or what Dempsey did. What most don't know is that those two guys are average EPL players at best (in my opinion). I understand that the post is about the U23 team but is there any reason to believe that the younger talent is any better than the senior team's level? If not, I think I'll pass (no offense to the OP's thread, which was extremely informative and appreciated!).

This season Clint Dempsey is 7th in goal scoring in the EPL and 1ST among midfielders. Donovan has only played a few months in the EPL over the last two seasons (on winter loan) and has made a big impact both times. Both are far batter than AVERAGE players.

“That is a total f***ing lie. It is bullsh*t and it is horse sh*t, and people need to be held accountable" -Jim Leyland